Dobbs Ferry is an ambassador of West coast food and East coast style with an "old world" feel, that is uniquely and unequivocally San Francisco.

Dobbs Ferry is a small village in Westchester County, New York, along the East bank of the Hudson river, approximately 20 miles North of Manhattan. Dobbs Ferry is the hometown of Scott Broccoli (owner) and Danny Sterling's family (owner, Director of Operations) and Michael Yakura (owner, Executive Chef) is now an honorary member. Dobbs Ferry is a California Bistro in the Hayes Valley district of San Francisco that marries West coast cuisine with old school, small town New York nuances.

The cuisine of Dobbs Ferry is casual, rustic and approachable. We have personal relationships with our purveyors, local farmers, fish mongers and producers. All of our raw materials are largely "natural", "sustainable" and "organic". This is not a new trend for any contemporary bay area restaurant, but it is a proud moniker that Dobbs Ferry will continue. It is a common standard for a restaurant to be "farm to table" and as organic, sustainable and natural as possible. We will abide by these practices and philosophy to build that natural trust and understanding between the Dobbs Ferry staff and its patrons.

Mike Yakura Owner/Chef

Michael Yakura was the Corporate Chef of Ozumo Concepts International which manages and oversees the OzumoRestaurants in San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Monica, as well as the Sonoma WineGarden, a new “wine bar” concept. Ozumo is a contemporary Japanese restaurant that specializes in all aspects of Japanese cuisine from sushi, robata-yaki, tempura, and nabemono in an upscale interior with polished service. For 4 and-a-half years Yakura was at the helm of the San Francisco Ozumo and was proud to finally be able to craft the cuisine of his family’s heritage. After all it was the influence of his 102 year-old grandmother and his Nisei (second generation Japanese) parents that inspired him to move away from a career in design and pursue a professional culinary career.

In 2003 Yakura was appointed the Executive Chef at Le Colonial San Francisco, and continued the restaurant’s tradition of serving contemporary Vietnamese cuisine with French colonial influences. His enhancement of the menu brought the restaurant to three-star status as determined by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Bauer, and he was honored as one of the “Rising Star Chefs of 2006”.

Yakura received a Bachelor of Arts in Design from San Francisco State University in 1995 and worked professionally in the design field as a graphic designer and project manager. He has also appeared on the television programs Bravo’s Top Chef (season 1 and 2), California Country and Feast or Famine, a culinary reality show that he co-hosted for almost three years. When away from his busy life in the kitchen, Yakura, 39, enjoys spending time with his wife Andrea and their three children Miles, Davis and Sami.

Scott Broccoli

Scott Broccoli is a New Yorker, Dobbs Ferry to be exact. Broccoli spent most of his childhood working before and after school at his father’s deli. At a young and impressionable age he learned the trade from the heels of his father and always knew that he would be a part of the hospitality industry. Men always cooked in his family, and Scott was a natural; learning traditional Italian dishes. However, Broccoli would start a career in finance, he would work in finance and the hospitality industry would have to wait. Then in the fall of 1999, Broccoli moved to San Francisco.

By sheer luck one of his friends was looking for a bartender for the weekend, and Broccoli volunteered his services. A weekend became a month, and then a month turned into a year, and by the time the next September came around, Broccoli was putting time behind two different bars in North Beach and managing the bar at Jianna Restaurant. It was here, at Jianna that Broccoli and Michael Yakura first met. Within the next year Broccoli, had become a partial owner of Jianna and was managing the restaurant on his own.

Jianna would eventually close because its lease had expired and Broccoli found himself working at Le Central in the financial district. Then in 2005 he opened a small “locals” bar in the tenderloin called Aces. Because of its proximity to other tenderloin restaurants and Polk Street, Aces quickly became an industry favorite and local success.

Another opportunity came to Broccoli through a regular patron of Aces, a vacant restaurant space in the notable Ghirardelli Square. After intense negotiations and some major construction, Broccoli opened The Pub at Ghirardelli that serves southern style barbecue. Once again Broccoli would call upon his local following to support the business, especially given the “touristy” location. After two years the Pub has garnered some local recognition for its food and family-centric atmosphere.

When Broccoli is not pouring drinks at Aces or serving barbecue ribs at the Pub, he spends time with his 4 month old baby girl Lucciana Grace and his wife Christina.

Danny Sterling

Danny has worked in hospitality since the age of 15, as a manager of Starbucks, all before he was legally able to drive. He knew he had found his passion in life and committed himself to a career in hospitality. Danny attended UNLV’s Hotel Administration program, and put himself through college by working graveyard shifts for VIP services at New York, New York Hotel and Casino. He later realized that his true passion for hospitality was in food and beverage, and so he took a position within Rumjungle, that would become the precursor to a long and fruitful relationship with China Grill Management.

Sterling completed his studies at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality. He returned to Las Vegas to rejoin the China Grill Management team as the Assistant General Manager of the China Grill Restaurant. Eventually he was hired away from China Grill to assume the inaugural role of Beverage Manager of Tryst nightclub in Steve Wynn’s flagship, the Wynn Hotel.

In 2006 Sterling applied his professional knowledge with his love of the outdoors and purchased a restaurant in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, which he renovated and successfully operated for two years. After eventually selling the restaurant, Sterling again rejoined China Grill Management as Director of Restaurants for the Mondrian Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Seeking a more food-focused culture, Sterling moved to San Francisco and became the Director of Operations for Ozumo Concepts International, LLC. It was at this point, that Sterling and Chef Yakura began working together.

Sterling believes that guests should always feel welcome and cared for by the staff, and has always maintained that “a happy staff equals happy guests”. While this may be an overly simplistic approach to management, it is one that has served him well.

While enduring the rigors of this industry, Sterling always strives for a balance in his professional and personal lives. He makes time to enjoy all that nature has to offer by rock climbing, mountain biking, surfing and skydiving.

Todd Trippany

Todd Trippany is a born New Yorker, who grew up and cut his teeth in the hospitality industry in Chicago. Trippany spent most of his high school years working at Marshall Fields as a prep and line cook. Trippany gained a passion for the trade at a young age cooking with his mother for their traditional Sunday Italian feasts. He continued his work in the hospitality industry for the next 10 years pouring drinks at various Chicago area watering holes.

In 1993 Trippany moved to San Francisco where he embarked on a successful sales career in software, which he continues to do today. Never losing the passion for cooking Trippany and several of his friends started participating in competitive BBQ tournaments under the team name Let’s Q This BBQ. Competing on the KCBS BBQ circuit they have placed as high as second overall in the West Coast Championships cooking chicken, ribs, pulled pork and brisket. Let’s Q This BBQ continues to compete at various California events with their goal of getting an invite to the Jack Daniel’s Invitational in Lynchburg Tennessee. In 2009 Trippany opened a small Italian restaurant and bar with his cousin in upstate New York called T&T’s Familigia Restaurant & Bar.

When not working or smoking BBQ, Trippany, 47, enjoys golfing, travel and spending time with his wife Valerie and young daughter, Cassidy.